EXPLORING AND TROUBLING THE BOUNDARIES Sundown (Number Thirteen). COURTESY DAVID CASTILLO GALLERY WITH XAVIERA BY LATRIA GRAHAM SIMMONS Ahead of her showing at Art Basel in Miami Beach, we talked to the renowned artist about her newest work and what she wants viewers to understand about the scope of American history. 60 • hiver 2018 • readelysian.com xreadelysian.com • hiver 2018 • 61 Left to right: Sundown (Number Fifteen), Sundown (Number Six), Sundown (Number Seven), ack in 1998, after working for a number of years as a fashion Who are my people?’ We don’t have a motherland. Africa is 54 Sundown ight now, she is preoccupied with language, specifically of transportation to move goods and people from one place to photographer’s assistant, New York City native Xaviera Simmons different countries. There is no place in Africa that I could ever (Number Twelve). labels—how they are applied to us, whether or not we another, are painted the colors of the national flags of countries COURTESY DAVID was searching for a new way to express her creativity. A chance go that would be my home. I’ve been all over Africa. Where can I CASTILLO GALLERY accept them and the parameters we create for ourselves whose citizens previously or currently populate the area, helping meeting with a group of Buddhist monks would change the go, and it’s like home for me?” in order to project an identity: “I think of myself as a residents realize their proximity to one another. direction of her art. The contemporary multimedia artist found She made her way back to New York City in order to find Rdescendant of slaves and not as much African-American,” the artist This isn’t Simmons’s first foray into the linguistic boundaries herself compelled to join the group’s pilgrimage retracing one of out. Twenty years after her initial pilgrimage, the questions of explains. “I check the African-American [box], but then one of my and labels, but now she is using them to enhance the scope of the transatlantic slave trade routes. Along the way, they stopped, identity, belonging and the transient nature of people still drives closest friends is Ethiopian, and she also checks African-American. America’s history. Her ability to poetically layer memory, textual meditated, prayed and chanted their way down the East Coast her creative process, and that thematic chord runs through the Then my rock star friend, he’s first generation Nigerian, he’s checking history and archival photography on top of modern color schemes before making their way across the Atlantic. majority of Simmons’s work, whether it is text-based sculpture, African-American. We’re all checking African-American, but we have is her specialty, exemplified in the recent exhibition Sundown Her journey wouldn’t end until 2000 in South Africa. From installations, photography or performance-based art. different experiences. To understand those differences does not negate Towns. The term was shorthand for all-white municipalities that there, she hitchhiked through East Africa, eventually making When she returned to the U.S., Simmons earned her BFA the connection, but we need to understand that [descendants of slaves] enforced segregation through a series of discriminatory local laws her way to Ethiopia. As she met new people, experienced their at Bard College and then completed the Whitney Museum’s are a particular group with a particular history in this country.“ barring non-white people from the area after the sun went down. culture, learned their customs and tried new food, she searched Independent Study Program in Studio Art. While enrolled Simmons is interested in the data, the minute, the terms we use The rules were often enforced by violence. the faces of those around her for something familiar, for the at the Whitney, she also completed a two-year actor-training to describe ourselves, and her lens encompasses more than the In the Sundown Town series, repetition, color and geometry all place her ancestors might have come from. She wanted to know conservatory program with The Maggie Flanigan Studio to experiences of the descendants of slaves. “I’m interested in all work in tandem to create lush, vibrant backgrounds, presenting a where she belonged. better understand the role the body can play in performance the terms, actually—how people label and identify themselves, sense of serenity and warmth before the archival element forces a “African-Americans identify with a continent, but African and how to better channel emotions in her artwork. “I wanted what they carry and also, how they’re labeled. All these terms . shift in perspective, leaving viewers with a feeling of displacement people, they don’t,” Simmons says. “They’re from Togo, they’re to understand how directors work with emotion and also to they have created how we view ourselves.” when they are unable to reconcile the two. Simmons is imploring from Benin, they’re from Nigeria, they’re from South Africa. understand how to use my body as more of an instrument—it’s For her 2018 site-specific installation titled Convene, which viewers to hold two divergent focal points in their heads at once They are that, and then they’re in their tribe, and then they’re got to be able to help emotions come forward. My images have took place in the Hunters Point South Park of Long Island City, and to continue turning over the nonlinear narratives and lived their person. Europeans are not just Europeans. They’re French, to do that. Great actors are able to mold and shape emotions.” New York, she dug into the data to understand the cultural histories long after leaving the gallery space. She challenges our Bthey’re Spanish. But African-Americans . we’re basically the Her work, at times cinematic in nature, seeks to enhance the composition of Astoria and Long Island City. Her materials for understanding of the notion of belonging, expounding upon the result of American history.” scope of America’s history by teetering on the edge of the the commission were ordinary: aluminum canoes, paint and transient nature of the descendants of slaves and forces us to After reaching this revelation, Simmons knew the work she had unknown in order to provoke conversations that can inform and some rope, but her use of specific vibrant colors is an abstract reconsider the concept of home. to do was home. “I had to ask, ‘Who am I here in this country? enrich our world. provocation about demographics. The canoes, once a method In Sundown (Number One), the scene seems almost pastoral—a woman 62 • hiver 2018 • readelysian.com readelysian.com • hiver 2018 • 63 or some, winter is a time of snuggling up by the fire, indulging in Improved Cardiovascular Fitness hot cocoa and hibernating until spring. While that can be enjoyable, Sure, gravity is helping if you’re skiing downhill, but your heart will you’re far more likely to find me on the slopes! still be getting a killer workout! As you ski, your heart rate increases. Snow skiing is my favorite sport, and I love it so much that my The higher your heart rate, the more oxygen your body needs - and entire wedding was planned around a week of skiing in beautiful the more calories you burn in the process. Skiing is an aerobic sport, Aspen, Colorado, with my entire family and close friends. In addition which means that you’ll be keeping your heart rate elevated for much to being a thrill, skiing is a pastime loaded with health benefits. of the time you’re on the slopes. Whether you’re eager to burn calories, build up your leg muscles or Keep in mind that if you’re skiing at high altitude, you’ll be taxing just get rid of anxiety, skiing might be the sport you’re searching for. your heart and your cardiovascular system a little or some, winter is a time of snuggling more than normal. At high elevation, extended periods of time. Skiing is also up by the fire, indulging in hot cocoa and your heart has to work harder to deliver going to help shape and build your quads hibernating until spring. While that can plenty of oxygen to the muscles that and your hamstrings. Even the muscles in be enjoyable, you’re far more likely to find need it most. To enjoy the heart-healthy your feet and ankles get a workout when me on the slopes! benefits of skiing without struggling with you’re skiing. Snow skiing is my favorite sport, and altitude sickness, try to get to your favorite I love it so much that my entire wedding ski destination a day or two ahead of Mental Health Benefits of Skiing was planned around a week of skiing in time. That allows you to acclimate to the Although the physical benefits of beautiful Aspen, Colorado, with my entire elevation before you strap on your skis. skiing are nothing to scoff at, it’s the family and close friends. In addition to psychological benefits that many skiers being a thrill, skiing is a pastime loaded Focus on the Core love most. Strap on your skis to enjoy a with health benefits. Whether you’re In order to keep an upright posture boost of endorphins and adrenaline - a eager to burn calories, build up your leg when you’re skiing, you have to rely on combination of feel-good chemicals that Left to right: muscles or just get rid of anxiety, skiing your core an incredible amount. For can keep you smiling for days to come.